A big topic in my school district this year is that they want K-4 teachers to integrate science and social studies with their ELA (English Language Arts) curriculum. And I have a problem with that, but not for the reasons you would expect. My district took science and social studies out of our day completely. You heard that correctly. We no longer have a time slot to teach science or social studies. What does my day look like then? 180 minutes of ELA, 120 minutes of math, 40 minutes of prep, 40 minutes for WIN time (What I Need which is our Tier/RTI time), 30 minutes of lunch, and 10 minutes of breakfast. That's all 420 minutes in our school day. And I have a problem with it. They say that our ELA curriculum integrates science and social studies in with the reading we will be doing, but honestly? I don't think it's enough. If we want students to gain real-world skills in school then we need them problem solving and only doing that during math class isn't
When I first started out teaching I didn't realize how much of my money I would spend on supplies for my classroom. I mean wow! I walked in with practically nothing and no budget to get anything so I did the best I could. My principal helped me out as much as she was able to and I took anything and everything from any of the other teachers to help me out. It was insane but those first few years taught me a valuable lesson. I needed money and it needed to be someone else's. No joke. My husband always jokes that he doesn't look at our bank statements at the start of the school year because he knows I spend way too much on what I need for my classroom, which is true. But he also understands why I do it. And he is fully on board with me finding ways to get that money without having to spend my own. My secret? Grants. I apply for grants ALL. THE. TIME. Let me say that again. I apply for grants ALL. THE. TIME. And it's honestly not as hard as you think. I